PS 2197 
.K15 fl6 
Copy 1 



SE11EGTI0NS 



FROM THE WRITINGS OF 



EDWARD RANDALL KNOWLES, LL.D. 



SELECTIONS 



FROM THE WRITINGS OF 



EDWARD RANDALL KNOWLES, LL.D. 



" A living faith, a heart of flesh, 
The world an enemie ; 
The last will keep the first two fresh, 
And bring me where I'de be." 



BOSTON: 
J. STILMAN SMITH & CO 

1893- 



,//vy 






Copyright, iSqs, 
By EDWARD R. KNOWLES. 



CONTENTS. 



V 









PAGE 


EccE Regnum . . . . . . 5 


St. Augustine 




5 and 6 


Day is at Hand 




7 


Rest and Peace . . 






8 


Love and Joy of Heaven 






9 


Most Perfect Thing in the 


: World 




lO 


Ad Reginam . 






II 


True Catholicism . 






12 


Hymn to St. Aloysius . 






13 


St. Thomas the Apostle 






H 


Conversion of St. Paul 






15 


To MY Wife . 






15 


Personal Reflections . 






16 


Rule of St. Benedict . 






17 


Mater Gloriosissima . 




i^i 


ind 18 


Thy Kingdom Come 






19 


Henry Ward Beecher . 






19 


Reality .... 






20 


To the Sacred Heart 






22 


True Christian Science 






23 


The Supremacy of the Spie 


.IT . 




32 



ECCE REGNUM! 

" My kingdom is not of this world." 
" Behold, the kingdom of God is within you." 

An earnest soul, in error's dread embrace, 
Essayed this prayer, ''Oh grant me. Lord, the 

grace 
To know the truth Thy wisdom doth impart, 
And follow it. Yet in my inmost heart 
Thou knowest wilfulness and pride hold sway. 
Unto Thy kingdom, teach me, Lord, the way." 
To her the Saviour answered lovingly, 
** Let not this world's allurements hinder thee. 
'Tis in thine heart that heaven's blest kingdom 

lies ; 
With me, uplifted there, thy soul itself will rise; 
And when the Christ thy faith and life confess. 
Heaven's presence then thy very soul will bless." 



THE CONVERSION OF ST. AUGUSTINE. 

O Blessed One ! Thy life, 

Incarnate once for me, 
Now animates my soul. 

Enabling me to see 



SELECTIONS. 

Satan's devices deep, 

And each alluring snare. 

Call Thou my soul from sleep, 
Who dost all ill repair. 

Around me float the clouds 

Of error, doubt, despair; 
Extend Thy mercy, Lord ! 

Destroy me not, — forbear ! 
But suffer me to live. 

Thy servant. Lord, to be. 
Father ! Thy Spirit give 

To raise and quicken me. 

Blest Mother of my Lord ! 

Entreat of Thy dear Son 
That by this humble hand 

His bidding may be done. 
O Saviour ! Let not pride 

Control nor hinder me. 
Forever at my side 

Deign Thou, my God, to be ! 



THE CONVERSION OF ST. AUGUSTINE. 

O JESU ! Tuus spiritus. 
Pro me incarnatus antea, 
CoUustrat meam animam 
Ut inferorum videam 



THE DAY IS AT HAND. 

Consilia et insidias. 

E somno meam animam 

Tu, Reparator, suscita ! 

Exspes mens mea aestuat. 
Errores me obnubilant. 
Per dubitationem da, 
Domine, mihi veniam ! 
Parce, ut tibi serviam ! 
Sustine me et anima, 
Pater, per Sanctum Spiritum ! 

Praiclara Mater Domini ! 
Tuum precare Filium 
Ut manu mea humili 
Fiat voluntas Domini. 
Ne regat me superbia. 
A fastu, Jesu, libera ! 
Et me aeternum adjuva ! 



THE DAY IS AT HAND. 

Through the long vigil of the night. 
To greet the dawning of the light, 
I wait in peace, 'mid silence deep, 
By expectation held from sleep. 
Sustine me, Domine ! 



SELECTIONS. 

Though dark and endless seems the gloom, 
Like to the quiet of the tomb, 
I wait contented without fear ; 
The glory of the dawn is near. 
Judica me, Domine ! 

The day is coming; Glorious Sun 
Of Righteousness ! Thy will be done ! 
Throughout the vast eternity 
Thy radiance shines triumphantly. 
Gloria tibi, Domine I 



REST AND PEACE! 

A THANKSGIVING AFTER A MISSION. 

Jesu ! Creator ! God Omnipotent ! 

To Thee in grateful praise each knee is bent; 

Powerless are banished evils to molest. 

Oh dwell forever with us, our Eternal Rest! 

Sweet Jesus ! Resting calm in Thy embrace, 
We know that Thou dost every sin efface ; 
And in Thy loving arms all sorrows cease. 
Thou art our Rest, our Joy, our Life, our Peace ! 



THE LOVE AND JOY OF HEAVEN. 



THE LOVE AND JOY OF HEAVEN. 

I LOVE Thy labor, Blessed Lord ! 

Thy love is life to me ; 
And in the fulness of Thy grace 

A heaven of rest I see. 

The rest Thou givest to Thine own 

Is not that carnal ease 
Indulged by those who idly seek 

Their own poor selves to please. 

It is a rest of perfect joy, 

The joy of labor given 
The poor and sick for love of Thee, 

Which brings foretaste of heaven. 

This little glimpse Thou givest now 
Of Thy blest heaven above, 

Incites me here to strive to gain 
That heaven of perfect love. 

And what does perfect love bestow 
But perfect peace and rest ; 

And countless joys bestowed by Thee, 
Who knowest what is best? 

Jesus ! Sweet Saviour ! Grant to me 

This perfect joy to know ! 
In Thee alone that joy I find ; 

Dear Lord, I love Thee so ! 



lO SELECTIONS. 

THE MOST PERFECT THING IN THE 
WORLD. 

THE PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. 

" I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." — Si. Paul. 
" That which is not God is nothing to me." — .5"/. Teresa, 

MY GOD ! Who ever art 

Unchangingly to me 
My All in All! My life 

Eternal is in Thee ! 

MY FATHER ! to Thy Will 

I helpless, trustful, cling; 
In Thine all bounteous Love 

Forgetting everything. 

MY JESUS ! Sweetest Name. 

All other names above ! 
My King ! no boon I crave — 

No blessing — save Thy Love. 

MY FRIEND ! of friends most true 

Whose Love is infinite ! 
Grant that, forever, I 

May in Thy Love delight. 

MY PRIEST ! Who searchest all, 
To Whom each thought is known ; 

A mercy-seat of penance, make 
Each inmost heart Thy throne. 



AD REGINAM. II 

MY LIFE ! My being, Thou ! 

My life is only Thine ; 
•For me there is no death 

If only Thou art mine. 

MY HEAVEN ! All else is naught 

Beside Thy Presence Sweet. 
My life in Thine, Thy Life in mine — 

Make thus my soul complete. 



AD REGINAM. 

Thou who, of all on earth, 

Art to my soul most dear ! 
Each moment's consciousness 

Reveals thy presence here. 
Nor space nor time can change 

This bond of sympathy ; 
Naught can our souls estrange 

In their firm constancy. 

My Queen ! Thy faithful heart 

Calls me with eloquence ; 
Where'er on earth thou art, 

My spirit hastens thence. 
With equal loyalty 

My burning love insists ; 
Though I am far from thee. 

Thy life in mine exists. 



12 SELECTIONS, 

My own ! Fate's tyranny 

Now seems to bow us down, 
And blighting care alone 

Appears our love to crown. 
Yet, in the future, dawns 

A day of joy and peace; 
The Power that blest our love 

Will give us sure release. 

Our very life and love 

Declare a certainty 
That over every chance 

Triumphant they will be. 
The Life that gave them birth 

Maketh our spirits one. 
My Love ! No power of earth 

Can sever us — mine Own ! 



TRUE CATHOLICISM. 

You ask me why I am a Catholic. 

I've tried to answer you in prose, in vain. 
From giving you a tedious, lengthy argument 

(The story is a long one) I refrain. 

I am a Catholic because my heart 

Yearns to extend its fellowship to all 
Who claim the sacred name of Christian, and 

my mind 
Finds no discrimination in the Master's call 



HYMN TO ST. ALOYSIUS. 1 3 

To make one fold under one Shepherd's care 
And unity's most vital bond maintain ; 

Professiitg everywhere alike one common faith, 
Acknowledging one universal Head to reign. 

Holy and apostolic is that rule 

Which doth the wondrous Son of God confess, 
Keeping our holy faith in its integrity, 

Extending now its universal reign to bless 

All nations and all lands, throughout the earth, 

Beneath its sway of spiritual power, 
Which has its origin and strength in thee, O 
Christ ! 

Of yesterday, to-day, the same forevermore ! 



HYMN TO ST. ALOYSIUS. 

O Saint of Beauty ! on whose princely brow 
There rests a crown of peerless innocence. 

Thy loving children come before thee now, 

Thy prayers entreating for their soul's defence. 

Help of the Orphans ! unto Jesus blest 

Offer their sufferings, piteous tears and woes. 

His love alone brings sweet relief and rest; 
His peace will give their aching hearts repose. 

O noble Youth ! child of the Sacred Heart ! 
Whom Jesus loved so dearly as to deign 



14 SELECTIONS. 

His boundless grace unto thy soul impart, 
Choosing thee endlessly to share His reign. 

Patron of Youth ! implore faith's guiding light 
To lead our souls on to heaven's portal high, 

Till, in the dawn from purgatorial night, 

Into thine outstretched welcoming arms we fly. 



ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE. 

DECEMBER 21, 1 89 1. 

While doubts that from our human frailty rise 

Oft hinder us and thrust us far from Thee, 

Yet honest doubt that in the pathway lies 

Of those who love Thee and are wholly free 

To plead Thy cause and fight Thy battle well, 

Who yet for Thee would urge a flawless plea 

And most convincingly Thy gospel tell, 

May draw them even nearer yet to Thee. 

To such confirm, dear Lord, their joyous faith, 

Strengthen the love that caused it, and inspire 

Wisdom and zeal, and faithfulness till death. 

Bid doubt and error from their minds retire, 

And when their hearts by fears and griefs are 

torn, 
Make them, dear Lord, amidst the strife recall 
With love the wounds Thy Sacred Heart has 

borne, 
And know in Thee their Lord, their God, their 

All! 



TO MY WIFE. 15 

CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL THE 
APOSTLE. 

As o'er the road of life we erring go, 

Oft, in the fainting spirit's darkest hour, 

Heaven's inspiration shineth round about, 

O'erwhelming us with sudden truth and power. 

"Who art Thou, Lord?" at once we feebly ask. 
Although full well we know the God of Life 

Alone our dying spirits thus can rouse, 

Against Whose Will we waged a futile strife. 

*' What wilt Thou have me, Lord, to do? " 
Trembling, astonished, overcome, we ask; 

Repentant, looking upward eagerly. 
We seek some heaven-appointed task. 

Let us, obedient, Heaven's light implore. 
And follow it, however rough our road, 

With patient faith, for thus alone we gain 

The way to Truth, to Life, to Peace, to God. 



TO MY WIFE. 

To thee, so noble, fair, and true, 
So patient, loving, kind. 

In humble verse I offer now 
The homage of my mind. 



1 6 SELECTIONS. 

Faithful through trials thou hast proved, 
Companion, wife, and friend ; 

Henceforth for all eternity 
Our love shall never end. 

Thou hast a dignity beside 
The honored name of WIFE : 

Maternity's bright gems enhance 
The beauty of thy life. 

Mother so gentle, wife so true, 

Expression adequate 
I cannot find to tell thy worth, 

Thy merits to relate. 



PERSONAL REFLECTIONS. 

ON presenting a mirror to a lady. 

This mirror, framed 'mid ancient carvings rare. 
Which hath for centuries the charms portrayed 
Of distant Persia's noblest ladies fair 
In splendors oriental bright arrayed ; 
Destined to yet reflect a charming face, 
Of calm repose and with expression sweet. 
Reigning above a form of matchless grace ; 
O Lady fair, with worthy charms replete ! 
This souvenir I give to thee, - 

Thus to fulfil its destiny. 



MATER GLORIOSISSIMA. 1/ 



THE RULE OF ST. BENEDICT. 

O Benedict ! thrice blessed thou, 

In life as well as name. 
The value of thy holy zeal 

Earth's utmost bounds proclaim. 

To teach our blest Redeemer's love, 

To keep alive His praise. 
In time of need Heaven's mercy deigned 

Thy stalwart soul to raise. 

** Whatever work of good to thee 

Sweet Jesus deigns to send, 
Beg of Him with thine earnest prayer 

To guide it to the end.'* 

Thus taught the good St. Benedict ; 

And, through the ages long, 
The Holy Ghost maintains for him 

His rule — Faith's bulwark strong. 



MATER GLORIOSISSIMA. 

Mater Gloriosissima ! 
Cum universo animo 
Tibi aguntur gentibiis 
Honor et benedictio. 



SELECTIONS. 

JesLi Voluntas Eadem, 
Quae ex Infantis pectore 
Beatam tuebatur te, 
Nunc omnia movet dicere. 

Voluntas Dei Filii, 
Omnipotens per omnia, 
Decrevit revereri te 
Psene divina gloria. 



MATER GLORIOSISSIMA. 

Mother Most Glorious ! Queen of Heaven ! to 

thee 
With one consent all nations voice acclaim ; 
All generations, as forever, now 
Rev'rently hail thee, lauding thy sweet name. 

The will that in the little Saviour's Heart 
Impelled His dawning human consciousness, 
An Infant clasped in thy loving arms. 
Now doth impel all creatures thee to bless. 

That mighty Will,— the Will of God's dear Son ! 
Of God Himself — the glorious Trinity ! — - 
Now moveth all things to ascribe to thee 
Every perfection save Divinity. 



HENRY WARD BEECHER. 



"THY KINGDOM COME." 

"Thy kingdom come," vainly the people pray, 
Closing their eyes to evils at their side. 

Worshipping self alone, nor knowing where 
In very truth God's kingdom doth abide. 

But change, O God ! the stubborn hearts of men 
From blinding errors base, from unjust laws ; 

Teach them that wrong will only vanish when 
They first correct and shun each evil cause. 



HENRY WARD BEECHER. 

Tumultuous rage the wintry blasts without 

My study window, as I sit and think 

Of my environment upon the brow 

Of this bleak eminence, where the drifting snow, 

Wrapt like a cope about the mighty bulk 

Of Sutton's tallest hill, a vestment white 

Bedecked with icy gems, transplendent shines 

As if on giant statue of some priestly form 

Which 'neath heaven's dome of vastness infinite 

Kind Nature had, with foresight wonderful, 

To mark the advent, work, and memory 

Of one at once her son, her friend, her priest. 

With fond design anticipating reared. 

(For Sutton knew him well, a kinsman dear 

By fondest ties to her forever bound.) 



20 SELECTIONS. 

E'en so, around great Beecher's bright career, 
Raged with tumultuous fury bitter strife 
Of creeds, of classes, and of partisans. 
And war of factions, — aye ! of nations too. 
And thus, in grandeur, did his lofty soul, 
Nobly preeminent with majesty, 
O'ertower those sons of men whom kindly fate 
Had made the leaders of their time and land. 
Ornate with gems of brilliant thought, his mind 
Shone forth transplendent like this stalwart hill 
Snow-white in purity and loveliness. 
Keeping that heavenly consciousness within 
Unmoved by outward turmoil or the thrusts 
Of calumny demoniac that sought 
With futile spite a noble fame to mar. 
Serenely onward doth his noble soul 
Progress upon the journey infinite 
Toward the eternal's inmost, holiest shrine. 
Most happy they, yet waiting here, to whom 
The least participation is vouchsafed 
In his great influence, which, pervading, thrills 
Sphere upon sphere as ceaseless ages roll. 



REALITY. 

"Truth is the reality of things." — Balmes. 

Substance of truth, Reality ! 
Joining in confraternity 
Hearts eager to uphold the right, 
And fortified by virtue's might; 



REALITY. 2 1 

Deific power, Reality ! 
O'erruling error's tyranny, 
Eternal in thy majesty, 
Yet lowly in simplicity ; 

O faithful guide. Reality ! 
Teach us to bear prosperity, 
And let no selfish pride nor care 
Our spirits' waning sight impair. 

True Mentor, stern Reality ! 
Strong to assuage adversity ! 
Thy rule true consolation gives, 
With hope inspired thy subject lives. 

Love's motive, sweet Reality ! 
Attachment without sympathy 
Most vital is not love at all, 
But passing fancy's feeble thrall. 

O Heaven— most real Reality ! 
Thou all-sustaining Deity ! 
Though thou art present everywhere. 
The true alone thy kingdom share. 

Thou guide supreme. Reality ! 
Lead onward to felicity ! 
Truth's life and power eternally, 
Infallible Reality ! 



22 SELECTIONS. 



TO THE SACRED HEART. 

O Heart of Jesus ! sheltering refuge blest, 
Wherein alone poor weary souls find rest ! 
O pitying love wherein all sorrows cease, 
Effacing sin and giving lasting peace. 

O Heart of Jesus ! from whose ardent flame 
A single spark effaced Magdala's shame. 
And wooed sweet Mary back to Bethany, 
Regaining faith and innocence from Thee. 

O Heart of Jesus ! sacred fount divine, 

O'er which the eternal Sun's fair glories shine ! 

O source from which the precious blood poured 

forth, 
Each saving drop of priceless, matchless worth ! 

O Heart of Jesus ! Perfect ! Infinite ! 

In whose sweet love all blessed souls unite ! 

Embodiment of universal good, 

Eternal One ! Jehovah ! Jesus ! Lord ! 

O Heart of Jesus ! Whence this love for Thee? 
No love have I — 'tis all Thy love for me ; 
No life have I — save from Thy Sacred Heart, 
Which, finding me, did all this love impart. 



THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. 23 

THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. 

• THE WATCHMAN, OCT. 1 6, 189O. 

Never, probably, in the history of the Chris- 
tian era has there been a period when, from all 
directions and sources, the false claim, — once 
warningly predicted by the divine Saviour, — *'Lo, 
here is Christ; or, lo. He is there," has been set 
forth so generally and widely as at the present 
time. And to every thoughtful person immedi- 
ately recurs the admonitory sequence of the Lord's 
prediction : " But take ye heed ; behold I have 
foretold you all things." "Believe it not." But 
after this command of Jesus we read : '* But in 
those days, after that trib7ilatio7i . . . then 
shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds 
with great power and glory." Now we behold on 
every side all possible forms of philosophies, sys- 
tems, and even pretended revelations of Divine 
wisdom, each gaining over to its support its more 
or less deluded and infatuated crowd of exponents 
and devotees, and each claiming to be solely and 
exclusively the final philosophy, the ultimate pos- 
sible development of revealed religion, the suinma 
lux mundi. Yet they are all imbued with princi- 
ples of utter fatuity, inconsistency, and lawlessness, 
which logically and practically lead to the most 
fearful consequences in faith, disposition, and prac- 
tical experience. Without delaying to consider 



24 SELECTIONS, 

the expositions of the various claims, theories, and 
doctrines advanced by these ''Christian Scientists," 
*' Faithists," false prophets, and bogus Messiahs 
of the present day, it is the purpose of this brief 
article to contrast with the pseudo-Christian 
Science fanaticism of our time, and its pernicious 
applications and results, the true Christian Science, 
that union with our Saviour Jesus Christ in our 
hearts, which is the source of all faith, knowledge, 
wisdom, spiritual life, and peace for the soul. 

The " Christian Science " doctrine is that God is 
everywhere, all, the only absolute entity. God 
is good, not evil ; therefore all is good, and there 
is no evil. Evil is only a delusion of a perverted 
mortal mind. Turning from this delusion (though 
the absurdity is very apparent of a part of God 
entertaining such a delusion for it to turn away 
from), we ignore error, sin, sickness, and death, 
which are unreal, and do not truly occur at all. 
We thus consider ourselves, argues the " Christian 
Scientist," one, in being, with God, " in whom we 
live, and move, and are." Furthermore, he claims, 
God is wholly spirit, and hence there is no matter ; 
what we call matter is but the phenomena of this 
eternal and omnipresent spirit presented for our 
contemplation in accordance with fixed and per- 
manent laws. Spirit is the only reality; God is 
perfect, therefore all is perfect ; and, consequently, 
we are, as to our real selves, perfect, good, free, 
wise, well, and immortal. The statement, "God is 



THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. 25 

all," is affirmed in a sense that so identifies God 
with the universe as to ignore the fact that an In- 
finite Being may have personality and must have 
an infinite power of self-adjustment in any degree, 
and thus must be capable of assuming the closest 
personal relations with finite persons. The most 
pernicious result of this *' Christian Science " fallacy 
is that it annihilates human individuality, free-will, 
and accountability, and leads the sinner to the 
fatuous belief that of his own will and strength he 
can ignore and evade all the consequences of sin 
and ignorance. All human experience, to say 
nothing of revelation, disproves this idea that a 
man can, by "coming into a true understanding 
of being," and by ignoring and denying the re- 
ality of sin and its various results, become instantly 
free from all consequences of his past errors or 
misdeeds. With its unsound but seductive ex- 
egesis, " Christian Science " declares, in proof of 
this Satanic delusion, the text, '* For as he thinketh 
in his heart, so is he," and argues that disease and 
all other evils are merely a matter of belief and of 
opinion, and that there is no sin if a man only 
thinks there is not. 

Though " Christian Science" is but a revival, in 
its theological and philosophical aspects, of old 
errors, yet its popularity rests mainly upon the 
application of its pantheistic ideas in a new and 
attractive way, viz., the removal of disease. But 
the inconsistency of trying to cure ^. serious case 



26 SELECTIONS. 

of disease by *' Christian Science " methods is 
evident from the simple fact that, according to the 
declared principles of *' Christian Science," the 
metaphysician cannot know but that the spiritual 
influence tending to originate, foster, and contem- 
plate that " delusion of mortal mind " known as 
sickness may be far too powerful for his own right 
understanding, together with all the spiritual in- 
fluence he can invoke and bring to bear on the 
case, to control or counteract in order to bring the 
patient to a realization of his real ( ?) condition 
of health, and immunity from all such evils as he 
is wrongly disposed to contemplate as real. Thus 
we find that this stupendous fallacy, self-styled 
" Christian Science," whilst ever reiterating the 
claim that " all is good," constantly recognizes and 
tries to remedy a definite form of evil ; namely, 
spirit in a condition of error, discord, disquiet, and 
perversity of will, 

I cannot more concisely epitomize the truth 
about this anti-Christian and lawless movement 
than to quote from a recent address made in 
Chicago by an earnest and sincere Methodist 
minister. He says: "A system which denies 
the personality of God, the personality of man, 
the reality of sin, the necessity of the Atonement, 
is another gospel. It calls forth the denunciation 
of the apostle: ' But though we, or an angel from 
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than 
that which we have preached unto you, let him be 



THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. 2/ 

accursed.' It is from the devil, and it is the most 
subtle form in which Christian faith can be at- 
tacked.. It dethrones God, it perverts Scripture, 
it annihilates sin, it blots out the sun in the spirit- 
ual firmament, the atoning work of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. It deludes the soul with a muddy 
twaddle about good, peace, harmony, life, and 
health, wresting a portion of Scripture here and 
there to give Christian color and sanction. Tested 
by the canons of science, it is not science, nor even 
the semblance of it!' " Ask me not," he adds, '' to 
exchange the glorious gospel of the risen Lord 
for a human philosophy which revamps old errors, 
which dethrones God, enshrouds the Scriptures 
in thick clouds and darkness, and veils the face of 
the Crucified One ! Sin, sorrow, tribulation are 
real. To shut one's eyes and calmly deny their 
existence is the sheerest folly, and mocks the 
deepest instincts of the human heart. The cure 
for the woes of life is Jesus Christ the Saviour of 
sinners." 

In running after the delusions of *' Christian 
Science" and other similar conceits and ** isms," 
men follow Satan instead of Christ. I won't pause 
here to discuss the existence and personality of 
Satan. It is certain from the Gospels that Jesus 
Christ believed in his reality, and that is reason 
enough for my belief. The devil's aim in foster- 
ing all these philosophies and cults of our time, 
which are based upon half-truths, seductive falla- 



28 SELECTIONS. 

cies, and perversions of truth, is to demoralize 
and bewilder pure-minded and intellectual people 
whom his baser and more earthly wiles do not 
ensnare, to weaken their will and individuality 
and thus lower them to a degree wherein they be- 
come a ready prey to those grosser forms of 
temptation which they have been hitherto proof 
against. The complacency and self-conceit of 
those souls who are thus led to identify the will of 
self with that of God, believing themselves part 
of the Divine Spirit, and therefore perfect and 
impeccable because God is perfect, and forgetting 
that the individual can do nothing good without 
the grace of God, almost invariably precedes, pres- 
ages, and indirectly causes their speedy fall from 
all that is good, and their utter ruin. God per- 
mits some, however, to recover themselves and 
return to a state of grace, after the worst of defeats 
in this spiritual combat with the Evil One. Such 
He takes up and uses to His greater glory after 
the devil has cast them away as useless to him, and 
supposedly the worn-out victims of his malice 
and delusions ; and if they will ever remain mind- 
ful of their utter dependence upon God for grace 
and strength, Satan can never regain them into 
his power. God's overruling providence makes 
even the worst of past experiences useful to us ; 
and thus, if we but lean on God's direction, we 
need never trouble ourselves about anything that 
is past, always provided that we have a sincere 



THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. 29 

desire to amend and rectify anything we may 
have done, when and how it may please God to 
give us* the opportunity and direction, which 
sooner or later He will bring about in His wise 
plan for our best good. Meanwhile, we should 
follow the duty He gives us to do, but His inspira- 
tion will never prompt us to ignore absolutely 
and repudiate any responsibility our past life may 
have incurred. And in this we behold the great 
practical difference between the true Christian life 
and practice, and such false systems as the pseudo- 
science we have been considering. 

Again, if God is the only reality and entity, is 
it not inconsistent for a ''Christian Scientist" to 
try to lead another person (or, rather, another 
part of the universal sea of mind or spirit) away 
from '' the delusions of mortal mind " and into 
** the Science of Being" ? For there is no way 
whereby he can judge whether one or the other is 
the more clearly and truly in the understanding 
of the Divine Being and Wisdom ; in short, the 
tendency of the '' Christian Science " craze, when 
followed out to its fullest logical results, is to de- 
throne both the will and the reason, annihilating 
individuality and freedom of volition, and to lead 
finally to absolute lawlessness in all things, cul- 
minating in despair and insanity. 

In the worst state of bewilderment, agnosticism, 
and uncertainty into which a poor, deluded soul 
can fall, there is always possible a sure, intuitive 



30 SELECTIONS. 

perception of truth for the sincere mind, terribly 
hard, perhaps, to recognize, and only to be at first 
attained by absolute self-forgetfulness and by in- 
clining the soul's perceptions heavenward to know 
it, but always within reach of the repentant prayer 
of the worst sinner or the most deluded fanatic. 
It is the voice of God ; to which, however far from 
Him we may be spiritually, we must incline our 
hearts to receive truth and wisdom. " Cast thy 
burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee; 
He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." 
T/iis is the true Ch'istian Science. Let us yield a 
ready compliance with heavenly inspirations, be- 
come united with Jesus Christ in our hearts in love 
and will and understanding, and never forget that 
at best our finite selves are utterly dependent on 
His grace and mercy to keep us in the way of 
truth, and free from those fetters of Satan, — 
pride, error, sin, misery, sickness, and death. 

As applicable to the transition from the phil- 
osophy of conceit, the religion of self-interest, 
and the theories of pseudo-science, to the true 
science of the Christ, I may add in conclusion 
the following words of Sir Thomas Browne: 
** Rest not in the high-strained paradoxes of old 
philosophy, supported by naked reason and the 
reward of mortal felicity ; but labor in the ethics 
of faith, built upon heavenly assistance and the 
happiness of both beings." To this faith there 
is ever ready for us a loving Guide, who is the 



THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. 31 

true light of life, " and His name is called the 
Word of God." 

"Jesus, my Saviour! look on me. 
For I am weary and opprest; 
I come to cast myself on Thee : 
Thou art my Rest. 

" Look down on me, for I am weak, 

I feel the toilsome journey's length ; 
Thine aid omnipotent I seek : 
Thou art my Strength. 

** I am bewildered on my way, 

Dark and tempestuous is the night ; 
Oh send Thou forth some cheering ray: 
Thou art my LiGHT. 

" When Satan flings his fiery darts, 

I look to Thee ; my terrors cease ; 
Thy cross a hiding-place imparts : 
Thou art my Peace. 

" Standing alone on Jordan's brink. 
In that tremendous latest strife, 
Thou" wilt not suffer me to sink : 
Thou art my Life. 

" Thou wilt my every want supply, 
E'en to the end, whate'er befall ; 
Through life, in death, eternally, 
Thou art my All." 



32 SELECTIONS. 



THE SUPREMACY OF THE SPIRITUAL. 

"We feel but the pulse of that viewless Hand 
Which has ever been and still shall be, 
In the stellar orb and the grain of sand, 
Through nature's endless paternity." 

Philosophers are now obhged, in their explana- 
tion of any of the phenomena of the universe, to 
assume the being and action of a substance, omni- 
present throughout infinite space, which communi- 
cates light, heat, electricity, and gravitation from 
one body to another, and even mental emotion and 
imaginary ideas from one mind to another. This 
omnipresent medium they call " the ether," attrib- 
uting to it, in the case of some phenomena, quali- 
ties utterly incompatible with those which they are 
compelled to assign to it in the examination of 
other phenomena. An omnipresent substance of 
some kind, however, is a necessary inference from 
the following facts : 

The planets attract each other, and are all 
strongly attracted by the sun. 

It is generally agreed that the atmosphere does 
not extend more than three hundred miles beyond 
the earth's surface. 

Heat, light, electricity, magnetism, and gravita- 
tion operate in an exhausted receiver just as well 
as elsewhere. 

One mind sometimes influences another inde- 



THE SUPREMACY OF THE SPIRITUAL. 33 

pendently of ordinary sensation or muscular mo- 
tion, without contact or perceptible connection. 

Says Professor Tyndall, '' The domain in which 
this motion of light is carried on lies entirely 
beyond the reach of our senses. The waves of 
light require a medium for their formation and 
propagation, but we cannot see, or feel, or taste, 
or smell this medium. How, then, has its exist- 
ence been established? By showing that by the 
assumption of this wonderful intangible el/ier all 
the phenomena of optics are accounted for with 
a fulness and clearness and conclusiveness which 
leave no desire of the intellect unfulfilled. When 
the law of gravitation first suggested itself to the 
mind of Newton, what did he do? He set himself 
to examine whether it accounted for all the facts. 
He determined the courses of the planets ; he 
calculated the rapidity of the moon's fall toward 
the earth ; he considered the precession of the equi- 
noxes, the ebb and flow of the tides, and found all 
explained by the law of gravitation. He there- 
fore regarded this law as established, and the 
verdict of science subsequently confirmed his con- 
clusion. On similar, and if possible, on stronger 
grounds, we found our belief in the* existence of 
the universal ether. It explains facts far more 
various and complicated than those on which 
Newton based his law. If a single phenomenon 
could be pointed out which the ether is proved 
incompetent to explain, we should have to give it 



34 SELECTIONS. 

Up ; but no such phenomenon has ever been 
pointed out. It is, therefore, at least as certain 
that space is filled with a medium by means of 
which suns and stars diffuse their radiant power 
as that it is traversed by that force which holds, 
not only our planetary system, but the immeasur- 
able heavens themselves in its grasp." 

Thus Professor Tyndall clearly and conclusively 
proves the certainty of the existence of an omnipres- 
ent substance acting as the medium of many of 
the phenomena of the universe. But in doing so, 
he proves far more than he probably ever intended 
to prove. While the existence of this niedium is 
clearly proven, yet the most superficial considera- 
tion of the phenomena of light, heat, gravitation, 
electricity, and magnetism readily shows that it is 
necessary to assign to this medium in the case of 
some phenomena qualities utterly incompatible 
with its action in the case of other phenomena, 
and hence that this medium must be a substance 
which transcends the known laws of this material 
world. Furthermore, the hypothesis of one me- 
dium as the basis of light, for example, a different 
one for gravitation, and yet another for electricity, 
is wholly inadmissible, since it supposes two or 
more material substances existing and operating 
in exactly the same point of space (an utter ab- 
surdity according to the laws of the material world 
alone), and without either one nullifying or ex- 
cluding the action of the other, or others. 



THE SUPREMACY OF THE SPIRITUAL. 35 

Admitting, therefore, the clearly proven exist- 
ence of this " ether" (or whatever you may please 
to call it), It is yet necessary to proceed further 
and recognize the fact that this single universal 
medium is not only omnipresent, but immaterial, 
and hence not of the material existence and its 
conditions and laws, but spiritual. We find it to be 

'* A motion and a spirit that impels 
All thinking things, all objects of all thought, 
And rolls through all things." 

And right here we recall the fact, by the way, 
that already many scientific men have supposed 
this so-called '' ether " to be homogeneous with 
the immaterial, simple substance, the soul. And 
this supposition is confirmed when we find the 
same spiritual substance operating as the medium 
of communication in the already well-known phe- 
nomena of thought-transference or " telepathy," 
psychometry, and mental suggestion from one mind 
to another. The idea that the will of man can 
direct the operation of this medium is perfectly 
consistent with the nature of the will. In the 
case of the electric eel, we find an instance of the 
will directing electricity in such a way as to para- 
lyze the limbs of animals at a distance, and even 
to cause death; and we find the invisible and 
spiritual medium of communication in thought- 



36 SELECTIONS. 

transference and mental suggestion easily directed 
by the human will. 

But there is one more phenomenon, or rather 
class of phenomena, to be added to our data 
before ultimately determining, according to the 
canons of scientific investigation and verification 
expressed by Professor Tyndall, the exact charac- 
ter and nature of this omnipresent spiritual sub- 
stance and medium, — the class of phenomena 
known as matter. 

Knowing that the will of man can direct the 
operation of this medium in *' telepathy " and men- 
tal suggestion to other minds, we readily infer by 
analogy what we find to be the only tenable 
theory of the nature of the existence of matter; viz., 
that the ideal theory is substantially correct, so far 
as it goes positively to account for facts, and that 
this principle of spirit governed by will underlies 
the phenomena of matter. " That which truly is, 
or essence," is the proper meaning of substance. 
Substance is '' the ultimate point in analyzing the 
complex idea of any object. Accident denotes all 
those ideas which the analysis excludes as not 
belonging to the mere being or nature of the 
object." The substance, then, of all matter is 
spirit. The accidents of any object are its pecu- 
liar modifications. The accidents of all material 
objects are constantly sustained and presented, for 
the contemplation of created spirits, by the Divine 
Will in accordance with fixed and permanent laws. 



THE SUPREMACY OF THE SPIRITUAL. 37 

At any point in space such presentation is con- 
stantly governed by the Divine Will in such a way 
that an^ object there situated has a real existence 
there, whether any one perceives it or not. It ex- 
ists there, in a special sense, as an idea of the infi- 
nite and omnipresent God, whose ideas, in the 
form of material objects, are infinitely more real 
than any image or hallucination which we can im- 
press, by suggestion, upon the minds of others, and 
whose influence in our hearts is a far more stirring 
emotional power than any which can be imparted 
by merely human will to the most susceptible 
person. An object situated at a certain point in 
space is presented to the contemplation of every 
spirit who happens to come into communication 
with that point in space, this presentation being 
governed by fixed laws, and any one who has 
already perceived a particular object knows that 
upon going again to the place where it is, the same 
object will be perceived by him. 

The recognition of the sole absolute existence of 
one infinite, omnipresent, eternal spirit does not 
conflict with a belief in this spirit as a personal 
God, Who is above all human comprehension, 
Whose ways are not our ways, and in Whom we 
and all created things exist. Yet care should be 
taken against affirming the statement, *' God is all," 
in a sense that really so limits God as to ignore 
the fact that an Infinite Being may have person- 
ality and must have an infinite power of self-adap- 



38 SELECTIONS. 

tation in any degree, and thus must be capable of 
assuming the closest personal relations with finite 
persons. 

Sir Isaac Newton held that God by existing 
constitutes time and space, He being infinite and 
eternal. In Him, and consequently in them, all 
created persons and things (His ideas) exist. We 
have a clear and necessary intuitive knowledge of 
unlimited time and space through Him, the omni- 
scient, omnipresent. Eternal One, in Whom we 
exist, and of Whom we are, and because space and 
time are necessary to our present conditions of 
existence. 

Our perception, therefore, of real ideas or ma- 
terial objects is the result of the action of the 
Divine Will on our minds, and the Eternal Spirit 
constantly sustains and presents these real ideas 
for the contemplation of created spirits, but they 
exist, furthermore, out ^/the minds which perceive 
them. Bishop Berkeley erred on this point; viz., 
in his maintaining of real ideas or material objects 
that ** their esse is percipi, nor is it possible they 
should have any existence out of the minds or 
thinking things which perceive them." 

The theory which I have herein advocated does 
not merge the creature in the Creator, as may 
readily be seen ; and, since it recognizes the free 
will and accountability of created spirits, does not 
make God the agent or power in everything that 
is done. Nor can it by any means lead any spirit- 



THE SUPREMACY OF THE SPIRITUAL. 39 

ually minded and clearly reasoning person to adopt 
Hume's view; viz., that the mind is but a mere 
series ^ of impressions, and that we can have no 
knowledge of it. 

Now, Berkeley erred in maintaining that the esse 
of things is percipi; i.e., they can have no exist- 
ence '' out of the minds or thinking things which 
perceive them." He wrote, in the *' Treatise Con- 
cerning the Principles of Human Knowledge : " 

'' HI. That neither our thoughts, nor passions, 
nor ideas formed by the imagination, exist without 
the mind, is what everybody will allow." 

To this I readily agree, but not to what follows : 

" And it -seems no less evident that the various 
sensations or ideas imprinted on the sense, how- 
ever blended or combined together (that is, what- 
ever objects they compose), cannot exist otherwise 
than in a mind perceiving them. I think an in- 
tuitive knowledge may be obtained of this by any 
one that shall attend to what is meant by the 
term exist when applied to sensible things. The 
table I write on, I say, exists, that is, I see and 
feel it ; and if I were out of my study I should say 
it existed, meaning thereby that if I was in my 
study I might perceive it, or that some other spirit 
actually does perceive it. There was an odor, that 
is, it was smelled ; there was a sound, that is to 
say, it was heard ; a color or figure, and it was per- 
ceived by sight or touch. This is all that I can 
understand by these and the like expressions. For 



40 SELECTIONS. 

as to what is said of the absolute existence of un- 
thinking things without any relation to their being 
perceived, that seems perfectly unintelligible. 
Their esse is percipi, nor is it possible they should 
have any existence out of the minds or thinking 
things which perceive them." 

The fallacy of Berkeley's reasoning is readily 
perceptible to us if we contemplate the omnipo- 
tence and omnipresence of the Infinite Eternal 
Spirit Who sustains the idea presented, as, e.g., a 
table. The very existence in the Infinite Mind of 
an object as directly and solely and especially re- 
lated to a particular point in space, constitutes for 
it a real and special existence there (whether con- 
templated by any created spirit or not), without 
any relation to its being perceived by any other 
than the omnipresent Infinite Mind, its origin. 
Berkeley appears to have been lacking in an in- 
tuitive knowledge of the nature of the existence of 
the Infinite Divine Mind and Its power of thought. 

Though our perception of real ideas or material 
objects is the result of the action of the Divine 
Will on our minds, and the Eternal Spirit con- 
stantly presents and sustains these real ideas for 
the contemplation of created spirits, yet their esse 
is not percipi, and they exist out of the minds 
which perceive them. The table I write on exists ; 
I see and feel it ; and if I were out of my study, I 
should say it existed, but I mean thereby not only 
that " if I was in my study I might perceive it, or 



THE SUPREMACY OF THE SPIRITUAL. 4 1 

that some other spirit actually does perceive it," 
but that the table has an actual existence there, in 
that place, whether any one is there to perceive it 
or not. This is because it is an idea of the om- 
nipotent and omnipresent Divine Mind. 

This theory, moreover, implies the greater real- 
ity and the omnipresence of the spiritual world. 

Two worlds there are; the one is real, 
The other but seeming ; both are here. 

The seeming doth to us reveal 

Its attractions great and our friends most dear. 

But greater far in the Spirit's light 

Are the pleasures of matter's sense bereft, 

When the world of the seeming fades from sight, 
And the real existence alone is left. 

And dearer yet our friends will be 

When illusions of earth from our lives have 
passed. 
And the spirit from matter's bond is free. 

And the life eternal begun at last. 

Professor Tyndall, in his conclusive proof of 
the existence of an omnipresent substantial me- 
dium, yet remaining apparently content, and even 
desirous, to limit its conception to that of some 
material substance, reminds me of Saul of Tarsus, 
overwhelmed by the sudden light and power of 
the Eternal Spirit manifesting itself in the person- 



42 SELECTIONS. 

ality of the Divine-human Jesus, yet feebly asking, 
**Who art Thou, Lord? " although he well knew 
that the God of Life alone could thus overwhelm- 
ingly subdue his stubborn spirit and manifest His 
own glory to Saul's mortal vision. And thus, 
ever unsatisfactorily and inconsistently, do scien- 
tists try to limit to the basis of matter and its law 
the very underlying substance of, and basis of, all 
material phenomena, — the Eternal Spirit and God 
of Life, who alone can sustain these phenomena 
which some of His own little created spirits will 
persist in attributing to their " wonderful intan- 
gible ether." 

" God of the earth, the sky, the sea ! 
Maker of all above, below ! 
Creation moves and lives in Thee, 

Thy present life through all doth flow. 

** Thy love is in the sunshine's glow. 
Thy life is in the quickening air; 
When lightnings flash and storm winds blow. 
There is Thy power ; Thy law is there." 

Now to sum up our theory and the question of 
its establishment. Spirit is the universal, omni- 
present, substantial medium of all the phenomena 
of the universe and the underlying substance of 
all matter, constantly sustained in its accidents, 
for the contemplation of created spirits, by the 



THE SUPREMACY OF THE SPIRITUAL. 43 

Divine Will in accordance with fixed and perma- 
nent laws. All created things that exist are the 
ideas of God. 

How have I shown this theory to be true? By- 
showing that by its assumption all the phenomena 
of the universe " are accounted for with a fulness 
and clearness and conclusiveness which leave no 
desire of the intellect unfulfilled," neither any de- 
sire of the most spiritual heart. It accounts *' for 
all the facts." It explains every possible, as well 
as every known, phenomenon. It may therefore 
be regarded "as established," and the verdict of 
all the past confirms it, as will all future revela- 
tion. It is founded on the strongest grounds. 
** If a single phenomenon " — to resume Professor 
Tyndall's nomenclature — ''could be pointed out 
which " the foregoing theory " proved incompe- 
tent to explain, we should have to give it up ; but 
no such phenomenon has ever been pointed out." 
No, nor ever can be ! 

" Thou, Lord, alone, art all thy children need. 
And there is none beside ; 
From Thee the streams of blessedness proceed, 

In Thee the blest abide, — 
Fountain of life, and all abounding grace. 
Our source, our centre, and our dwelling- 
place." 



LIBRARY OF 



mm 




